State of the Patient
Every patient has a number nobody warned them about — a denial letter, a copay, a bill that shouldn't exist.
State of the Patient starts there. The show brings on the patients fighting the system and the doctors, researchers, biotech founders, and policymakers who can actually change it — no boardroom spin, no talking points.
Free markets should innovate. Safety nets should catch people. This show keeps both honest.
Hosted by Terry Wilcox, Chief Patient Advocate at Patients Rising.
Episode 8: Who Really Benefits from 340B? What a Summit Panel Said About Where the Money Goes
Of the money the 340B drug discount program moves each year, how much actually reaches the patient, and how would anyone know?
At the 2026 State of the Patient Summit in the Kennedy Caucus Room on Capitol Hill, Terry Wilcox put that question to three people who see the program from very different places. Together they cover the four reform proposals now in front of Congress, the fights over contract pharmacies and rebates, what patients should pay, and whether the help should go to hospitals at all or straight to patients.
The episode opens with the story of Virginia King, a woman being treated for cancer in New Mexico whose hospital billed her insurer $22,700 for a drug with a list price of about $2,700, as reported by the New York Times in January 2025.
Guests:
Thomas Johnson, Executive Director, Alliance to Save America's 340B Program (ASAP 340B)
Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA, Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, UC San Francisco
Ryan Long, Director of Congressional Relations, Paragon Health Institute
Chapters:
00:00 A $22,700 bill
01:22 One question for the panel
01:52 How 340B works, and who was on stage
03:12 Four bills in Congress
04:38 Where the money actually goes
06:30 Is 340B free to taxpayers?
08:58 The bankruptcy files, and a clarification
11:28 What "broken" means
13:20 Contract pharmacies
14:26 Rebates
15:33 Capping what patients pay
17:12 A hospital subsidy, not a patient program
19:55 Why don't hospitals have to show their work?
21:16 Can technology fix it?
22:45 Give the subsidy to patients
24:35 Final thoughts
27:36 What stays with me
Full transcript and show notes: [LINK]
State of the Patient is a podcast from Patients Rising. New episodes every other Tuesday.
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